Lap-dancing clubs are banned for the first time in Scotland

Edinburgh has become the first city in Scotland to ban lap-dancing clubs in a move described by performers as an “act of cruelty” during a cost-of-living crisis.

The union representing exotic dancers has vowed to take their fight to court in a bid to overturn the decision by Edinburgh city council and said it would request a judicial review. A dancer, who gave her name as Alexis, who worked in one of the capital’s four lap-dancing venues, told the regulatory committee: “Strip clubs are not just full of pervy old men trying to feel up young women. Many of our customers just want someone to talk to.”

She said she had been a dancer for 15 years and did not want to find another job